ERF022 impacts the induction of somatic embryogenesis in Arabidopsis through the ethylene-related pathway

Abstract

Main conclusion The ERF022 gene was found to affect embryogenic transition in somatic cells in Arabidopsis via the ethylene-related pathway. The study provides evidence that ERF022-LEC2 interaction is involved in the auxin–ethylene crosstalk that operates in somatic embryogenesis induction. The ERF022 gene of the ERF family was previously identified among the transcription factor genes that were differentially expressed in an embryogenic culture of Arabidopsis. A strong inhibition of the gene was found to be associated with the induction of somatic embryogenesis (SE) and an erf022 mutant was indicated to display a substantially impaired capacity for SE. Therefore, the molecular function of ERF022 in the induction of SE was studied in the present work. A phenotype of an erf022 mutant was indicated as being related to an increased content of ethylene. The results further suggest that the ERF022 controls the genes that are involved in both the biosynthesis (ACS7) and signalling (ERF1, ETR1) of ethylene and indicate that the ERF022 is a new regulatory element in ethylene-related responses that negatively control the ethylene content and perception. It is proposed that the negative impact of ethylene on the induction of SE may result from a modulation of the auxin-related genes that control the embryogenic transition in somatic cells. Among them, the LEC2, which is a key regulator of the induction of SE through the stimulation of auxin synthesis, was possibly related to ERF022. The results of the study provide new hormone-related clues to define the genetic network that governs SE. A putative model of the regulatory pathway is proposed that is involved in the induction of SE in which the auxin–ethylene interactions are controlled by ERF022 and LEC2 and their targets.